Broken Hearts
by Fb-PHE13
Summary: They were supposed to be together until the very end. Their feelings were strong for each other, but they were not strong enough to admit them. If only the infection hadn't come back… if only they had time to tell each other what they really felt… then maybe, just maybe, Fitz wouldn't be sitting alone on Jemma's bunk, grieving and blaming himself for what happened.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, you okay?" Simmons glanced up at Fitz, his hand resting gently on her shoulder as concern glittered in his blue eyes. "You look pale…" he trailed off, and she knew he was thinking about her… illness.

She smiled up at him reassuringly, but it was forced, and replied, "I'm fine, Fitz. Just a little tired." She knew he didn't believe her, even her excuse sounded weak to her own ears, but he let it go, releasing her should as well.

"Go get some sleep, then; I can finish up here," Fitz told her, his eyes still holding his worry.

Simmons opened her mouth to protest, but hesitated, not sure how to convince him to let her stay without telling him the real reason why. "Are you sure?"

He nodded and assured, "Of course I am. Let me know if I can do anything for you."

"Thank you, Leo," she murmured before standing up from her seat, glancing reluctantly back down at her work. Suddenly, out of impulse, she reached her head up and pecked him on the lips lightly. Fitz froze, startled, and Simmons quickly left, face heating with embarrassment, not sure what possessed her to do that.

Slipping into her bunk and sliding the door closed behind her, she sat down on her bed, pressing up against the wall as she glanced out the window beside her. Grief welled up inside her, the grief that had been chased away when she was with Fitz earlier. Sighing, she looked down at her hands, wishing she knew to tell him. The matter was serious, and she knew the outcome wasn't going to be good. If only the infection hadn't come back…

Jemma tried to old back a yawn. Sleep was too risky, and she tried to encourage herself to stay awake by remembering she had already made it two days without sleep. Besides, she needed to tell Fitz _now _before it went south. But she was so tired… there was no way she could last longer without sleep, she knew that.

"A little nap shouldn't hurt," she murmured to herself, though she knew fully well it would. She stood up, making sure not to stand up too fast to avoid being lightheaded, but she suddenly felt weak, and stumbled back onto her cot. She tried again, but with no luck.

So, Simmons gave up, and lied down on her bed, grabbing her journal next to her and quickly scribbled down one last note, making sure to leave it opened when she finished. Tears blurred her sleep-heavy eyes and she prayed with all her will that Fitz would come rushing in and save her… but nothing happened.

If only she had time to tell him personally how she really felt…


	2. Chapter 2

Fitz headed over to Simmons's bunk the next morning, growing increasingly worried that she wasn't up yet. Normally, she'd be up bright and early and working in the lab by the time he got there. But Jemma wasn't there when he went down, nor anywhere else on the Bus. He asked the others if they had seen her, but none of them had.

With a shaking fist, Leo knocked on her door.

No answer.

He knocked again.

Once more, no answer.

"Jemma, are you in there?" He croaked, a sinking feeling in his gut. "It's time to get up now, Jemma." Quickly, Fitz opened her door, and promptly stopped dead in his tracks. "Jemma…" Whipping around, he started to scream for help before ducking inside her bunk, crouching next to her as he fumbled to find her pulse, the others rushing over to see what was going on.

Numb with shock, Leo barely felt May pulling him away from Simmons and out of her bunk as Coulson and Ward picked her gently off the bed, quickly taking her down to the lab. He tried pulling after them, but Skye was quick to block his way. "No," he mumbled weakly, shaking, "I gotta get to Jemma…"

"Fitz, stay here," May ordered, she and Skye moving him back into Simmons's bunk and getting him to sit down before following the other agents quickly to see if there was something they could do. Fitz stared at her pillow, a blank look glazing his eyes, unable to process what had just happened.

His eyes traveled slowly to her open journal, and with a shaking hand he picked it up and brought it close, whimpering softly, "Jemma…" Leo then slowly read the recent entry his partner had wrote, reality slowly trickling in.

_I'm so sorry, Leo. I was going to tell you, but I didn't know how. I really wish I didn't leave, but nothing would've helped me. The Chitauri infection had come back. Thankfully, it's not contagious, so it won't infect anyone else, but it's surely fatal. I just wish I'd told you… I just didn't know how. I'll always be with you, Fitz. I love you._

Finally, it settled for Leo, and he broke down sobbing.

Jemma Simmons was dead.


	3. Chapter 3

Fitz sat alone on Simmons's bunk, his stuff packed in a box and sitting at the foot of the bed. It was late, and everyone was asleep, unaware of his move to his partner's bunk. He needed to be closer to her again, and he felt this was the only way without sleeping in the lab. He didn't have the heart to move her stuff, so he left that in place, hence why his things were still packed away.

Sniffling, Leo wiped tears from his eyes, trying not to cry again. Jemma's sudden death had shattered him. She was his other half and she held his heart. Now that she was gone, he didn't feel whole. He didn't know if he would ever be able to feel whole again. Stray tears rolled down his cheeks, and he took a shuttering breath. If only he told her… if only he told her…

He wasn't angry at Jemma. He could never be angry at her. Of course he wished she told him that she was dying. Perhaps that might've been able to find a cure for her once more…

Picking up her journal gently, Fitz skimmed over her last note. She loved him, and he never got the chance to tell her he loved her too, or the chance to say goodbye. He remembered how she seemed so hesitant to leave the lab the day before her death, and he remembered how she kissed his lips before leaving. Most of all, he remembered how persistent he was in getting her to leave.

He gasped for air, trying to muffle the sound of his sobs as he started to cry once more. If only he didn't make her go back to her bunk! Maybe, just maybe, Simmons would still be alive. It was his fault she died, it was all his fault!

Earlier, when questioned on how Jemma could've died, Fitz said nothing about what she wrote in the journal, so he allowed them to perform an autopsy. The team had tried to comfort him in different ways, but he shrugged them off, unable to try and bring himself to get over it and feel better. "If only we stayed at the academy," he choked out softly, wishing, no, dreaming that Jemma would walk into her bunk and smile widely when she saw him there. And then he would tell her he loved her as well and how much she meant to him.

Pulling out his cell, he opened his drafts and wearily sent a text that was long forgotten in there. Shortly after he had sent it, Simmons's phone started vibrating. Leo stared at it brokenly, knowing it was his text that went through; his text that told her that she was more than a best friend to him. If only he had sent it earlier…

Resting his head against Jemma's pillow, he closed his eyes and breathed her scent deeply. His heart was hollow without Simmons there.

A sudden knock caused Fitz to sit up quickly, eyes widening as the door slid open. Coulson stood there, face grim. "I'd thought I'd find you here," he murmured, causing Fitz to flinch. "I have news from her autopsy."

Leo's gaze sharpened as he looked at the older agent expectantly, even though he already knew what had killed Jemma. "The Chitauri infected had invaded her system again. Fortunately, it's not contagious like the last time." Fitz closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall. Coulson heaved a sigh and rasped, "There's something else that was found as well."

Fitz sat up in alarm, leaning toward him. "What is it, Coulson?"

The senior agent stayed silent for a minute before whispering, "Leo… she was pregnant."

The young engineer froze, breath catching in his throat as the room spun, blurring together and messing with his vision so everything seemed darker and fuzzier. Fitz barely heard Coulson's words of sympathy and sorrows and he shook of the older agent's hand from his shoulder, not wanting the comfort.

He didn't want Coulson; he wanted, no, he_ needed_ Jemma.

Coulson finally left him alone as Leo let out a strangled sob, his head resting back against the cool window. His grief was overwhelming, drowning him, and he had no problem not trying to fight it.

He grabbed Jemma's pillow and buried his face into it to muffle his screams of emotional agony. Four days ago, when everyone else was doing what they needed to do, Leo had found Simmons in the bathroom throwing up. No one else was close by to hear her, and he only found her because he was getting worried when she didn't appear in the lab.

After comforting her and helping her clean up, Jemma apologized profusely, saying she didn't know what was wrong. He knew his partner was telling the truth, and he got Coulson to give them the day off; Fitz wanted to make sure Jemma was alright.

Now that all made sense to why Simmons was sick before her death, other than the fact she was infected once more. If only she told him she was dying, then maybe they could have worked together again and made another cure, a cure that would permanently heal Jemma. Tears stung Leo's eyes and streamed down his face, the pillow falling down into his lab as he broke.

FitzSimmons was no more.

Only Fitz.

Only Fitz…

**I know there's conflicted information, so I'm going to leave it up to your imaginations on what happened.**


End file.
